An Improviser Deals With Mortality’s Warning By Living and Playing
Frank London has myelofibrosis – and a lot of music to still play
Frank London (photo courtesy Frank London)
It’s a wonderful thing when old friends get together.
It’s more wonderful still when they keep that friendship fresh by being fully in the present and looking ahead rather than just “remembering when.”
And, yeah, for anybody who loves making music, it’s even more wonderful if they have horns in their hands.
But what trumpeter Frank London and sax-playing rabbi Greg Wall will share with jazz fans Thursday night at the Jazz Society of Fairfield County’s weekly Jazz at the Post concert is one of those oh so rare phenomena of human communion.
Frank and Greg, who is also the society’s president and artistic director, have been friends and on-and-off musical collaborators since their college days nearly 50 years ago. They will be playing together for the first time since Frank, now 67 years old, has recovered sufficiently if incompletely from treatment for myelofibrosis, a rare blood cancer with a median survival rate of six years.
They’ll be joined by Roberta Piket on piano, Hilliard Greene on bass, and Newman Taylor Baker on drums, playing music from their album fittingly titled Spirit Stronger Than Blood. It was released in May 2024, just before Frank underwent a bone marrow transplant – oh, and if the story behind the music weren’t compelling enough, it also earned itself a spot in the New York Times Top 10 Jazz Albums of the Year list.
“Greg and I go all the way back to our college days, working in this nexus between jazz, free improv, and Jewish music,” Frank told 8495Jazz. “Floating between all three and bouncing back and forth is our commonality. This will be our first time playing together since I’ve been able to play again. So I am really looking forward to that, on musical and sort of spiritual levels, both. We inspire each other in a special way.”
Thursday’s show will actually be his second in the 8495 this week, but it’s not like Frank is playing the same show twice. Today, he’ll be at The Falcon in Marlboro with the Klezmatics, the Grammy-winning klezmer band he co-founded in 1986; they’ll be collaborating with Crimean guitarist Enver Izmaylov.
The two shows, he said, “have so nothing to do with each other in anything other than me. I mean people, musical styles, nationality, genre – except they both involve a lot of improvisation, and that’s the key to everything, anyway.”
And by everything, he means life well beyond a 32-bar solo. The cancer treatment followed several years of constant visits to doctors for blood tests, just watching the numbers.
“Then about a year ago the numbers went insane, and that’s when I had to deal with it.”
Treatment, he said, “sort of worked but sort of didn’t. I’m still dealing with it. Right now I’m healthy – well, I’m not healthy, but I’m feeling good and I’m able to be out there and playing and making the most of the time that I’ve got. Learning to improvise is more than just a musical skill. It’s a life skill. We have to improvise our lives. You can’t plan. You have to react and be aware – be an improviser. It has served me well.”
Prior to going into the hospital, he slammed five records out in what he called “an insane rush of ‘I have to do stuff.’ And now, since I’ve been able in the last five or six months to actually be out in the world again, I’ve been trying to negotiate getting my life back on track.”
A big part of that was re-learning how to play the trumpet again virtually from scratch. The months of treatment completely eroded his embouchure and endurance. Practice can bring a lot back, but only gigging can really restore endurance, he said. And boy, does he have gigs lined up.
“I’m busier than I’ve ever been. We’re recording a new Klezmatics album. I’m a featured artist at Yidstock. I’m going to Europe four times for festivals. It’s just one thing after the next. And thank God.”
Of course, he said, back in their college days, he and Greg Wall had no idea where their lives would take them so far in the future, but he is incredibly happy they still have the opportunity to play music together.
“We get together, we’re in Westport, we’re making music together and it’s a blessing, a blessing that we are still there and together, that we still have the inspiration. I don’t want to sound like a jerk or an idiot, but even with the cancer and this and that and the other thing and the world situation now, which is such a disaster – and we are trying our best – but we are blessed. I feel blessed.”
Spirit Stronger Than Blood, the 2024 album by Frank London and The Elders, including Rabbi Greg Wall of Westport, was named a Top 10 jazz album by the New York Times.
Out and About with 8495Jazz
To alleviate confusion, ticket prices quoted now mention service fees as included or as additional; if fees are not mentioned, there are none to our knowledge. Because fees differ according to ticket type, service fee amounts are not included here but are available on venue web sites.
These listings are a curated sampling of shows in the region. As an independent resource for jazz news, 8495Jazz does not receive any consideration, free tickets, or affiliate fees for these listings. Please confirm events are still happening directly with the venue.
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Holyoke Media, Holyoke, MA
Drummer/Composer Phil Haynes’ Double Trumpet Trios pay tribute to late trumpeter Herb Robertson, Wednesday, June 18, 7:30 pm. $15 plus service fee.
8495Jazz Spur of the Moment Gig TODAY
Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT
New London Big Band Father’s Day Concert, 2 pm. Free with museum admission.
Other Shows This Week
Elicit Brewing Co., Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Monday, June 16, 7:30 pm. Free.
The Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Patricia Brennan Trio (vibes, combo), Friday, June 20, 8 pm. GA $49.16 incl. service fee, students $22.68 incl fee.
Blackstone Library, Branford, CT
Afro-Semitic Experience Juneteenth Concert, Monday, June 16, 6 pm. Free, registration required.
The Falcon, Marlboro, NY
Bridge Arts Jazz Concert feat. Hudson Valley Youth Jazz Orchestra, Bridge Arts Community Jazz Band, Bridge Arts Jazz Lab, Saturday, June 21, 1 pm. Free, $30 suggested donation.
The Parlour, Providence, RI
John McKenna Resonant Structures (combo), today, 5 pm. GA $10.
The Lilypad, Cambridge, MA
Joe Hunt Quintet feat. trumpeter John Eckert, today, 8:30 pm. $15.
Jazz Forum Arts, Tarrytown, NY
Jon Faddis Quartet (trumpet, combo), Friday, June 20 and Saturday, June 21, 7 and 9:30 pm. GA $43, including service fee.
Steeple Playhouse, New Bedford, MA
John Allmark-Dino Govoni Quintet, today, 4 pm. GA $27, military/student $22.
Memorial Park, Maynard, MA
Maynard Jazz Festival, Saturday, June 21, 12:30 pm. Free.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday jazz jam most Saturdays, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Carmine’s, East Hartford, CT
Paisley’s All Star Memorial Jam, 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7:30 pm. House band set followed by jam. Free.
Mahoney’s, Poughkeepsie, NY
Poughkeepsie Jazz Project, every Tuesday, 7 pm. Free.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other Thurs from 7-9pm.
8495Jazz takes its name from the two Interstate highways that cross our region, I-84 and I-95. Within short driving distances from either, you can find incredible entertainment, from local jams to world-famous festivals in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 8495Jazz: From Newburgh to Newport!
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